-il CesareSole Absolute Triple
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“In the entire world there are only a few sounds that bring joy to all but the most jaded. One is the murmur of a kitten purring. Another is the thwack of a well-pitched baseball hitting a perfectly swung bat. And the third is the pop of a cork being pulled from a bottle of wine.” —George Taber

fogtower

ajrod27

I've had mead from this producer from a previous woot sale. I'm not a mead expert but I enjoyed this wine! Also, based on a recommendation, I added a shot of mead to a glass of Guinness and it was delicious. A must try

rjquillin

Used to drink Chaucer's by the case and Guinness by the keg, both, literally, years ago when I haunted the LA and Novato Ren Faires as a craftsman. While this is no longer in my wheelhouse, I've gone in on a couple of the earlier woots as SWMBO enjoys most anything Chaucer.

isnus

flamespear wrote:Is this a true mead made from fermenting honey and water or is it wine with honey added?

The 750ml offering is a traditional mead. Mixing honey and fruit is usually called a "melomel" but depending on the fruit it may have a more specific name. Fermenting honey and grapes together (or preferably blending after fermentation) is called a "pyment" (and can be quite delicious).

isnus

I would suggest trying several rather than buying a lot of one in particular (unless of course you already know that you like it). There aren't many commercial meaderies and distribution is limited.

I've liked most that I've tried from Moonlight Meadery and Winehaven's traditional. B.Nektar seems good so far but have only had one of their varieties. White Winter is popular but I think it is mediocre.

Like anything else, try some and see what you like, everyone's palettes are different.

rpm

rjquillin wrote:Used to drink Chaucer's by the case and Guinness by the keg, both, literally, years ago when I haunted the LA and Novato Ren Faires as a craftsman. While this is no longer in my wheelhouse, I've gone in on a couple of the earlier woots as SWMBO enjoys most anything Chaucer.

I have many wonderful memories from the Black Point Ren Faire - before, during, and after my peripheral days with the SCA around its years VI-X or so (in the Isles - when it was a barony-, the Mists and Caid). Fewer, but equally good memories of the LA Ren Faire.

I took my daughters when the were about 10 and 8, got them costumed up and very much into it for a while. Not sure whether the highlight for them was (a) the costumes and the whole period fantasy thing, (b) the food, or (c) their first encounter with fencing at a booth.

Mead was of course a staple at Ren Faires and SCA events. As an early wino, 'twas not really to my taste, but many of the Ladies high and low seemed verily addicted to the stuff. Sly devil that I am, I weaned a number of them off the stuff with judiciously chosen Riesling auslese and beerenauslese. Which once led to my being given the privilege of selecting all her wines by Countess Bevin Fraser of Stirling whom you no doubt recall.

DonnaPz78

After moving to Illinois from California years ago, the visits to this winery's tasting rooms in both Monterey and the Santa Cruz area were truly missed. It is the one place we make an effort to visit each time we come back. The Chaucers Mead is the "must have" before you leave as they keep a crockpot warming throughout the day, and we always encouraged others to be sure and try it. We were thrilled to find a limited amount here in Illinois one year and it was absolute heaven to warm up with on a few of our cold winter nights. I highly recommend this wine, you won't regret it!

maddawgjb

isnus wrote:The 750ml offering is a traditional mead. Mixing honey and fruit is usually called a "melomel" but depending on the fruit it may have a more specific name. Fermenting honey and grapes together (or preferably blending after fermentation) is called a "pyment" (and can be quite delicious).

And fermenting honey and apple is called cyser. Very delicious, but needs to be consumed within a day of opening.

shedawocon

I acquired a bottle of this at Trader Joe's over the holidays. I tried 1/2 the bottle 'traditional style', heating it up with the included mulling spices. It tasted like a kicked up hot apple cider. I highly recommend for cold/flu season.

stinawargo

"it should be consumed shortly after purchase." --how much shortly? If I get it shipped to my parents' house (because VA apparently will only let you buy local wine) will it be ok to drink in June when we drive up to NY to visit?

drakar2007

stinawargo wrote:"it should be consumed shortly after purchase." --how much shortly? If I get it shipped to my parents' house (because VA apparently will only let you buy local wine) will it be ok to drink in June when we drive up to NY to visit?

I buy Chaucer's locally (also in VA, it's available at Wegmans and World Market among others), and have had a bottle sit on my shelf for months and months before opening. I actually kept one way too long (maybe 2 years) and it had started to get murky inside, but I decided to risk a sip rather than dumping the bottle and it tasted just fine (and i didn't die). So I'd say a few months should be alright.

The price on this woot isn't great, but the Rasberry variety isn't available locally (as far as i've seen at least) so would consider it if just for that - alas, no VA shipment

drakar2007

ajrod27 wrote:From the description on the title page, "This Mead is made with similar recipes used in Medieval Times. Chaucer’s Mead uses 100% pure honey..."

My brother claims that the term "wine" specifically implies that it is a white wine made with grapes [think of the etymology of the word "wine" after all], and has honey added for flavor. Of course the honey they add for flavor is 100% pure, so the snippet you've quoted (with its almost-suspiciously vague wording) doesn't exactly prove to me that my brother is wrong. Somewhat stronger evidence is the fact that the celltracker listing for this stuff makes no mention of grapes.

I still wish I could find some absolute clarification on the issue, as I'm a big fan of regular Chaucer's and my annoying brother always hits me in the face with the whole "well it's not REAL mead since it's just honey-flavored wine..." bit. Anyone?

North316

isnus wrote:I would suggest trying several rather than buying a lot of one in particular (unless of course you already know that you like it). There aren't many commercial meaderies and distribution is limited.

I've liked most that I've tried from Moonlight Meadery and Winehaven's traditional. B.Nektar seems good so far but have only had one of their varieties. White Winter is popular but I think it is mediocre.

Like anything else, try some and see what you like, everyone's palettes are different.

Chaucer's is ok too.

I'm always on the lookout for some mead here locally, as I haven't found anything that really satisfy my memory of a good mead.

The chaucers offered here is definitely not to my liking and it seems to be a relative even split, either you love it or you hate it.

I actually did get a bottle of B.Nektar orange blossom mead a few months back and was not a big fan of that either. It had a very nice entry and good taste across the mid-palate, but a very off-putting finish and after-taste to me. Almost like a petrol/chemically aftertaste that I just couldn't shake. I had high hopes for that as it was produced in Michigan, which produces some very good honey.

I'll keep an eye out for the other meads you mentioned, but as I said, they are hard to find here in Ohio.

I fear that nothing will ever come close to the mead my dad used to make. Smooth, sweet and slightly viscous with a pretty high alcohol content given the sweetness (I think it was in the 15-18% range but you would never guess by the sweetness). Sadly he stopped making that years ago and I have yet to find a suitable replacement. THis Chaucers is surely not one.

Hopefully WD can track down some other meaderies and up the offerings!

osuksig

It is so ancient a beverage that the linguistic root for mead, medhu, is the same in all Indo-European languages where it encompasses an entire range of meanings, which include honey, sweet, intoxicating, drunk and drunkenness. For this reason it has been suggested that fermented honey may be the oldest form of alcohol known to man.-Mikal Aasved, 1988

For those in the Colorado region I highly recommend stopping by Redstone Meadery in Boulder to sample their wares.

starthorn

drakar2007 wrote:My brother claims that the term "wine" specifically implies that it is a white wine made with grapes [think of the etymology of the word "wine" after all], and has honey added for flavor. Of course the honey they add for flavor is 100% pure, so the snippet you've quoted (with its almost-suspiciously vague wording) doesn't exactly prove to me that my brother is wrong. Somewhat stronger evidence is the fact that the celltracker listing for this stuff makes no mention of grapes.

I still wish I could find some absolute clarification on the issue, as I'm a big fan of regular Chaucer's and my annoying brother always hits me in the face with the whole "well it's not REAL mead since it's just honey-flavored wine..." bit. Anyone?

Your brother is wrong. First, "wine" is a fairly generic term referring to any fermented beverage made from fruit. In fact, it is even used for non-fruit fermentations (think "rice wine" (sake)). It's true that in modern times, grape wine has come to dominate the market, but that doesn't reserve the word for just grape wine.

To my knowledge, Chaucer's doesn't make any grape wines. They make wine using honey (mead), or using other fruits (such as raspberries). Sometimes, they'll combine the two results, as in the raspberry mead here. All are made from fermented fruit juice (or honey water), none include grapes or grape juice.

They have a phone number on their website, and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer your questions if you called them.

mskatia

starthorn wrote:Your brother is wrong. First, "wine" is a fairly generic term referring to any fermented beverage made from fruit. In fact, it is even used for non-fruit fermentations (think "rice wine" (sake)). It's true that in modern times, grape wine has come to dominate the market, but that doesn't reserve the word for just grape wine.

To my knowledge, Chaucer's doesn't make any grape wines. They make wine using honey (mead), or using other fruits (such as raspberries). Sometimes, they'll combine the two results, as in the raspberry mead here. All are made from fermented fruit juice (or honey water), none include grapes or grape juice.

They have a phone number on their website, and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer your questions if you called them.

mskatia

drakar2007 wrote:I buy Chaucer's locally (also in VA, it's available at Wegmans and World Market among others), and have had a bottle sit on my shelf for months and months before opening. I actually kept one way too long (maybe 2 years) and it had started to get murky inside, but I decided to risk a sip rather than dumping the bottle and it tasted just fine (and i didn't die). So I'd say a few months should be alright.

The price on this woot isn't great, but the Rasberry variety isn't available locally (as far as i've seen at least) so would consider it if just for that - alas, no VA shipment

Reply" Drink shortly after purchase, means within 2 years. These are not fortified, so to get the fresh honey taste, we recommend you drink within 2 years of purchase."

mskatia

stinawargo wrote:"it should be consumed shortly after purchase." --how much shortly? If I get it shipped to my parents' house (because VA apparently will only let you buy local wine) will it be ok to drink in June when we drive up to NY to visit?

Yes, if you drink in June you will still be happy. We recommend drink shortly after purchase, as these are not fortified. Shortly for us means 1-2 years. ~Cheers

mskatia

shedawocon wrote:I acquired a bottle of this at Trader Joe's over the holidays. I tried 1/2 the bottle 'traditional style', heating it up with the included mulling spices. It tasted like a kicked up hot apple cider. I highly recommend for cold/flu season.

Yes, spice bags included. You can also try cold spiced mead. Put the spice bags into the bottle, chill for 30 min. drink, enjoy!
Does this offering come with the spice bags?

drakar2007

starthorn wrote:Your brother is wrong. First, "wine" is a fairly generic term referring to any fermented beverage made from fruit. In fact, it is even used for non-fruit fermentations (think "rice wine" (sake)). It's true that in modern times, grape wine has come to dominate the market, but that doesn't reserve the word for just grape wine.

To my knowledge, Chaucer's doesn't make any grape wines. They make wine using honey (mead), or using other fruits (such as raspberries). Sometimes, they'll combine the two results, as in the raspberry mead here. All are made from fermented fruit juice (or honey water), none include grapes or grape juice.

They have a phone number on their website, and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer your questions if you called them.

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